A senior lawmaker said "the huge improvement" in security at Iran-Pakistan border areas has prepared the ground for closer cooperation between the two countries.
Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, rapporteur of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, made the statement in an interview with ICANA, after the panel's meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour on Tuesday.
Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan was the scene of a spate of terrorist attacks in recent years, with gunmen crossing the porous 300-kilometer-long border with Pakistan to carry out operations in Iran and then fleeing back. Iran had repeatedly protested against Pakistan's lax border security and the operation of terrorist groups across the joint frontier.
The parliamentarian said Pakistan is one of Iran's most important neighbors and Tehran attaches strategic importance to its relations with Islamabad, which can help bolster bilateral economic cooperation.
The lawmaker quoted the deputy foreign minister as saying that the visit of Pakistan's President Nawaz Sharif to Tehran in May and the trip of President Hassan Rouhani to Islamabad in March have been "very helpful" in strengthening the bilateral bonds of friendship.
Hosseini noted that Rahimpour said although military and security cooperation between the two countries is at a good level, cultural interactions trail far behind. According to Rahimpour, the fight against terrorism as well as drugs, goods and human trafficking is among the important areas in which Iran seeks greater Pakistan cooperation.
